In July this year, Google announced multiple updates for the incident reporting system in Maps, such as larger iconography and an easy confirmation interface for other drivers on the same route. Back then, the company also confirmed that these reports would be pooled together from Google Maps and Waze, complete with details of the report’s origin.
The latter has already started appearing for Google Maps users. According to an image shared in the Google Maps subreddit, one user got an incident report pop-up message in Google Maps, which also mentioned that it was contributed by a Waze user.
Google Maps allows users to report incidents like crashes, traffic slowdowns, speed traps, and police presence. Available on both iOS and Android, as well as the respective automotive platforms, this system also lets users share updates about debris on the road, disabled vehicles, ongoing construction, and lane closures.
The idea is to help other travelers taking the same route by warning them before they experience any hurdles on the highlighted spot. In order to report incidents, all you have to do is tap on the “+” icon on the navigation screen and pick one from the list of incident types.
The reporting system with Waze and Google Maps community sourcing is available across Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, cars with Google built-in, iOS, and Android. Alongside the cross-app alert system, Waze also added support for reporting more camera types installed for traffic analysis.
Moroever, it landed support for a new traffic events feature that provides real-time notifications and detailed information about ongoing traffic incidents. Users receive specific details like the event’s cause, road closures, and current traffic conditions.
The app even added a lock screen-driven navigation interface. “Waze drivers can now get navigation guidance — like turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic updates or hazard alerts — all while their phone remains securely locked,” said Google.
This was followed by another feature updated in October, which added the ability to report incidents in natural language, instead of picking from a list of presets. Waze calls it Conversational Reporting. All you need to do is tap on the reporting button, say your details, and Google’s Gemini model will handle the rest.
“Waze will understand what you’re saying and quickly add a real-time report to the map for you,” Google wrote in a blog post. The navigation app might also throw a follow-up question if it requires further details, and will automatically categorize the report in an appropriate class.
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